Alleged police impersonator indicted in 3rd case, in Epping

BRENTWOOD — A Newmarket man who admitted to impersonating a police officer while stopping several cars in New Hampshire and Massachusetts has been indicted in a third case for attempting to pull over a woman in Epping.

Michael Heath, 42, faces up to 3 ½ to 7 years in prison on his latest charge of false personation for allegedly flashing a badge to a woman while she was driving in Epping on Nov. 9, 2012.

Heath attempted to pull over a 36-year-old woman at the intersection of Routes 125 and 27 by brandishing a police badge, according to an indictment and other court records.

The latest indictment in Rockingham County Superior Court follows a grand jury that indicted Heath last month in two other cases that happened in the Seacoast region last year.

Police say that Heath pulled over the women on Aug. 29 in Stratham and Sept. 8 in Hampton.

He is now free on bail awaiting his next court date.

Hampton police arrested Heath shortly after he pulled over a woman in their town along Route 101 east near Route 1 about 10:03 p.m.

The woman was suspicious of Heath and asked for the motor vehicle stop to be done at the police station, court records say. Heath then got in his car, turned around and drove off, prompting the woman to call Hampton police, according to a police report.

During a Sept. 13 interview, Heath told detectives that he has also stopped motorists in Maine and Massachusetts along with a number of towns in Rockingham County, including Newfields, Hampton Falls, Newington and Portsmouth.

He has not been charged in those cases.

Police say that Heath used a badge and blue lighting in his 2005 Buick Century to stop women driving on area roads.

The car bears the vanity plate DFIANT.

Stratham police searched Heath's vehicle on Sept. 11 and found "several sexual items" including condoms and packets of lubrication, according to Hampton police Det. Christopher Gilroy.

"Mr. Heath acquiesced that we had probably discovered his activities at the right time to curb any further advancements in his behavior," Gilroy said in his report.

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